Councillors eye possible summer vote to select new Toronto mayor
CBC
Clear rules. Concrete dates. As much runway as possible.
That's the early wishlist some city councillors are drawing up as they contemplate when to kick off the race to replace John Tory as Toronto's mayor. Some say the current timeline puts the vote somewhere between early June and July.
But the precise timing of voting day remains unclear after Tory's shocking resignation in the wake of a sex scandal involving a former staffer. Council is waiting for a report from the city clerk and must still declare Tory's seat vacant after his resignation took effect on Friday at 5 p.m.
Coun. Alejandra Bravo said council will need to move quickly to set the rules and get out of the way of the coming campaign.
"I think that anyone who wants to run right now wants to have predictability," she said. "Not being clear, as quickly as possible, … could be seen as playing politics."
Council will meet on March 29 to consider a report from the clerk's office. When it declares the mayor's seat vacant, a nomination period between 30 and 60 days opens. The byelection will be held 45 days after nominations close.
Councillors or the deputy mayor could hasten that timeline by calling a special council meeting to declare the mayor' seat vacant, but thus far there is no indication that will happen.
Bravo said the city needs to work hard to ensure voters have time to get engaged in the process after a record low voter turnout in last fall's civic election.
"We saw in this last municipal election such a huge reduction in the number of people coming out to vote — 29 per cent," she said. "
That is not an endorsement ... in local government and we really want to see a robust turnout."
Coun. Gord Perks said he won't support rushing into a vote .City staff have to do a lot of work to set up the election, including hiring workers, setting polling stations and getting Toronto's voting machines ready, he said.
"A very fast election, I think, is impractical, but something before kids get out of school somewhere in June, I think makes sense," he said.
Perks said he supports having a longer nomination period, which will give campaigns enough time to dig into the issues.
"I think we are at a critical moment in the city of Toronto's history," he said.
The City of Edmonton is developing a wildfire strategy to mitigate risks within the municipality and help neighbouring regions, the city's emergency advisory committee heard Wednesday.
About 20 workers, students and local MPP candidates gathered outside Hamilton's Mohawk College Wednesday — where a fifth of full-time jobs have been cut since December — to call on the province to better fund post-secondary education.
In a busy race to Queen's Park, nine candidates are vying for the Sarnia—Lambton seat — a riding that's been conservative for nearly 20 years.
There's just over a year left in the Canada-Alberta child-care agreement and it's shaping up to be a rocky one for some parents, who — for this first time in the history of the agreement — will see their fees increase as a new phase of the program rolls out.
B.C. MLA Adrian Dix says he gets texts, emails, and even stopped at his local Safeway. He says people urge him to cut off power or even water to the U.S.
B.C. cities, in general, would be among the least vulnerable in Canada if U.S. President Donald Trump follows through on tariff threats, according to new data from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
Here's where and when you can vote in advance polls in Waterloo region, Guelph and Wellington County
Voting day is Feb. 27 in the Ontario election, but people can cast their ballots this week in advance polls.
Staff with Summerside Electric say they're not getting many updates from Maritime Electric after a failure at the utility's Sherbrooke substation over a week ago caused strain on the city's electrical grid.
The N.W.T.'s public utilities board has ordered the Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC) to start paying Naka Power $48,500 per month to use a transmission line in the Hay River area, starting March 1.
Ideologically motivated violent extremist groups are using antisemitism in a bid to recruit followers and inspire violence, according to a report from Canada's spy agency.
It's a move that could reshape North American trade.
Ontario's main political parties are competing for the hearts of voters by appealing to their wallets, with a mix of tax cuts and money-back rebates pitched as helping with the cost of living.
With one full week to go before voting day, Elections Ontario is working to reverse a recent downward trend in voter turnout, which set a record low of 43 per cent the last time Ontarians went to the polls in 2022.